Let's Talk About Ads

And the ad world goes on

I haven't posted much since I stopped working in advertising. Something I'm proud of is this: http://adage.com/abstract.php?article_id=119844

Last week, 151 interns graduated from the American Association of Advertising Agencies' Multicultural Advertising Intern Program, after 10-week stints with participating agencies across 23 cities. In her keynote address, SMG Multicultural CEO Monica Gadsby said, "Rest assured this industry needs you as much as you need us."

~AAAA Smartbrief

Yay, go us!

But what really compelled me to post today is a Trojan ad I just saw on TV. I was watching Comedy Central, and since the channel is aimed at the elusive 18-25 year old male, there are a lot of ads for that particular demographic. The one that I was watching had the tagline, "Evolve. Use a condom," and the story was that a pig who uses a condom turns into a man.

I have a huge complaint about that tagline. How exactly are we supposed to evolve if we use a condom? Evolution is based on genetic mutations and passed through reproduction. Condoms, the last time I checked, were used to prevent reproduction. Were people thinking when they came up with that tagline? I'm still not sure how a lot of ads get passed through client reviews. I know the client I worked with this summer was pretty strict about every aspect of the ad, down to even very minuscule color blocks.

Of course I'm thinking too much into this ad. It's an ad for condoms. It's not meant to be analyzed even to this very shallow depth. Moving on.

posted by Sarah @ 1:47 AM